Fixing a Fractured Heart
by Undeadmonkey8
Summary: Five years have passed in the spirit world since Chihiro left. Now, Kohaku is head of the bath house, a master of magic, and let's not forget the part where he's a dragon. However, Zeniba and Yubaba have detected a fracture in the boundary between their world and ours, and Kohaku jumps at the chance to see Chihiro again. What might happen next I wonder? I don't own Spirited Away


**Chapter One**

**Fixing a Fractured Heart**

_Five Years._

_Five long years since Chihiro had left, running away from him towards the tunnel where her parents waited for her. Five years and not a peep from the River Stone he'd given her to tell him she was entering the no-man's land between the Woman Stone outside the old tunnel and the River bed. He'd watched her run to the tunnel, watched as she'd taken her mother's hand, and watched as the three of them had traveled down the tunnel. Soon, the only part of her she could see was the purple hair band that Zeniba had given her, flashing with light that only a spirit could see. Then, even that had faded, and the chasm in his heart had opened wide, swallowing him whole._

_He'd told her not to look back, but it wasn't to keep her from being pulled in by his world. He didn't want her to look back for a simple and selfish reason. He didn't want her to see him cry._

_Five years, to the day._

()()()()

Kohaku leaned out over the railing and sighed, watching the train race by far below. His heart ached to see her again, just as painfully as it had felt as she'd driven away from him. It was as if a spike of icy hurt was driving itself into him, drilling into his heart. His eyes traveled to the workers far below him. His workers now, for about three years in fact. Yubaba had – after much annoying persistence from both Baby and Zeniba against both of them – completed his training as a Sorcerer, despite both of their intentions. After that, she'd given the Bath House to him and gone off to make amends with her sister, the reasons for which she kept well to herself. He hadn't heard from either of them since, so he assumed they'd either gotten along or they'd killed each other in an epic battle, leaving No Face as the only surviving resident of the cottage.

He suspected it was the latter.

Kohaku waved a hand through the air, watching sparks fall from his hand as energy crackled between his fingers. A feminine hand placed a bowl of rice on the railing next to him, "You know Kohaku, for an eight hundred year old spirit, you sure look pretty dispirited. There are plenty of girls out there, dozens alone in the Bath House who would love to have you. Pretty ones too. Maybe you should consider one of them. Chihiro's not coming back, you should have gotten that through your head years ago."

Kohaku turned to Lin, "I am aware of the hordes of women chasing after me, both figuratively and literally. I hope that you are aware that I am not in the mood to talk about them, especially today. If you'd leave me be for a bit, I'd be fine." His face was calm, but his words were laced with an underlying message.

Lin deflated, she'd only meant to tease him a little, maybe bring him out of the doldrums he sunk into every year, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." A thought occurred to her, "Hey, you can fly, why don't you just go after her? Surely you can do that, can't you?"

Kohaku turned back the railing, "You should know better than that Lin. I leave the Spirit world, and my river – blocked off, yet still alive – would finally die. And once it had died, I would die as well. Do you really think that Chihiro would appreciate me dying right in front of her? Assuming she could even see me? Besides, five years here is . . ." he did a quick and rough calculation, "A hundred and fifty years in her world." That number hung in the air for a moment before sinking in to hit home. He slumped, grabbing the railing with one hand for support, "A hundred and fifty years." His voice was barely a whisper, "A hundred and fifty years . . . as a human." He looked up at Lin, and the woman could see heartbreak in the eyes and face that were usually as closed off as a statue, "She's . . . gone by now. Isn't she Lin?"

Lin felt sadness stir within her, and she pulled the boy into a hug, "I'm so sorry Kohaku. I'm so, so sorry. If there was anything . . ."

Kohaku suddenly pulled away from her, his features carefully composed, "Thank you for bringing me some food Lin. I'll be in before long."

Lin opened her mouth to argue, but decided better of it and bowed before returning indoors. Kohaku took a deep breath and took a small bite of rice, not registering that he was even hungry, despite not having eaten the entire day.

He pulled his thoughts away from Chihiro before going back inside with the empty bowl, he didn't want to risk slipping up in front of anyone, even if it was just Lin. When he reached his office however, there was a surprise waiting for him. Lin was standing near the stove as a pot of water heated, and Kamajji was sitting at the desk, filling out forms and stamping papers as if he didn't have a care in the world.

But they weren't the surprise.

Zeniba and Yubaba were sitting near the mantle, staring into the fire or out the window as they waited for tea. His old mentor looked up and caught sight of him as Lin brought the twins beverages, "Ah, the heartbroken dragon appears. Lin tells me you finally realized that little Sen won't be waiting for you any longer." She took a sip of tea before continuing, "I am sorry for your loss, mainly because Baby liked the girl. However, if you're going to continue running things around here, you're going to have to push that back and get to business."

Zeniba frowned at her sister as she accepted her tea from Lin, "Yubaba, shush. That's no way to treat the boy, especially today, when his feelings are fragile. Don't forget how you felt when Boh's father vanished."

Yubaba glared at her sister, "Do not shush me. You may be older by a few minutes, but that's no excuse to—"

Kohaku interrupted before a family feud could open up, "I assume you're here for a reason? Or is it simply to mock me while you drink tea near the fire?"

Yubaba and Zeniba turned their glares on him, letting them drop as he simply stood there without flinching. The elder twin sighed and set her tea down, "No, you're right. We are here for a reason. But before we say anything, Kamajji, open a window. No, the big one. No, not that big one, the really big one. Yes, the big one behind the curtain. Oh for pity's sake Kamajji, let me do it." Zeniba waved a hand and the massive window sprung open. It was more of a hangar door than a normal window, so Kohaku didn't use it except when he needed to send something big flying out over the sea. The twins turned back to him, speaking in unison, "That's necessary, because we don't want you breaking a window when you hear what we're about to say."

Kohaku shrugged and summoned a chair, falling casually back into it as it arrived, "And what do you have to say?"

Yubaba glanced at Zeniba before answering, "There's a fracture in the boundary between our world and S—" She stopped as Kohaku glared at her, "Our world and Chihiro's world."

Kohaku shot to his feet and nearly changed to his dragon form to go find it, but the Twins held him down with a combined effort of spell power and will, "Wait Kohaku! It won't do you any good to go out now, there's no way for you to find it, or more importantly, for you to break through! Besides, you go now and you'll be there a hundred and fifty years after she returned, no human lives into their hundred and sixties!"

The sisters struggled to keep him down with spells until he stopped struggling and fell back into the chair, "Then what's the point of you telling me that? Simply to torture me with the information?"

Zeniba shook her head, "No. The point of telling you that is this." She held up a small amulet, in the shape of a crescent moon, "We've been out of contact for the last few years because – when we finished trying to kill each other – Baby and No Face convinced us to find a way to Chihiro. This is the result of three years of Magical study and Sorcery. Fortunately No Face saved us another three hundred years of research, that spirit is truly ancient." Zeniba shook her head to return to topic, "This will not only let you focus your power into a blast narrow enough to get into and break open the Fracture for long enough to let you through, but it's also enchanted to synchronize your timeline with someone else's. You'll simply need to provide the amulet with someone to link to. Oh, and let's not forget that it will reveal the Fracture when you get close enough to it."

Kohaku narrowed his eyes while Lin's went wide, he had no way of telling what Kamajji's were doing, "And you did this because . . ."

Yubaba let out a huff of impatience, "Believe it or not Kohaku, I actually have a good side. Baby simply convinced me to let you onto it long enough to make this. Besides, I respect Chihiro for getting the better of me, I honestly didn't expect her to know her parents weren't included with the rest. And you were a good apprentice, even after she ended the spell controlling you, which is another thing I respect her for. Is that enough?"

Kohaku nodded and held his hand out for the amulet, which Zeniba readily handed to him, "One thing, if you want to break through, you'll need to be in your dragon form. I'm sure you know its powers are superior to that of your current state, and you'll want to be sure you have a strong enough blast to open the Fracture. Be warned Kohaku, we're not sure whether you'll have your powers and magic in the human world, so make sure you want to go."

Kohaku nodded, but then something occurred to him, "What about my river? If I leave, it dies, and as I told Lin, if the River dies, so do I. How is that supposed to be stopped?"

Yubaba shrugged, "We'll simply have to transfer control of it to someone else. Who do you plan to leave the Bath House to?"

Kohaku turned to Lin, a question in his eyes. The woman sighed, "I can take care of it while you're gone boss, the river too, if you really need me to do that." the sarcastic gleam returned to her eyes, "Not sure how long I'll be able to stand the silence though."

Kohaku sighed, "Thank you Lin. I would say I'll be back soon, but I don't know if I'm even coming back. But I'll do what I can."

Yubaba and Zeniba clapped their hands together and walked in a circle around the two, murmuring under their breath in the language of magic. Light flared out from them and circled around Kohaku before sinking into his skin, lighting him up from inside. He stopped glowing as light pooled within his eyes, then shot out and transfixed Lin, flowing into her so quickly that none of them could have said for certain they'd seen it. Lin collapsed and the sisters stopped their circling as two of Kamajji's arms shot forward to catch her and lower her to the ground. The woman stirred, then sat up and rubbed her head before looking at Kohaku, "Okay, this is surprisingly unpleasant. Tell me it goes away."

"It goes away."

"Are you lying to me Kohaku?"

"No."

Lin nodded, "Good, now go out there and find Chihiro, I'm sure she's getting impatient." She looked at the sisters as she stood, "If that amulet dumps him in the Human world without bringing him to her time, and he's stuck there, you'll be answering to me."

Yubaba rolled her eyes, "I'd say I'm frightened, but I'm really not. Or rather, I'm only frightened of what Baby and No Face would do to us if that were the case."

Lin frowned at the sisters until they clapped again and vanished, most likely warping back to Zeniba's cottage. Kohaku gave her and Kamajji a quick hug before moving to the window and looking out over the sea. His hand closed around the amulet and his eyes closed, focusing on the enchanted crescent to reveal the Fracture. Without realizing it, he shifted to his draconic form and took off, flying onward to – hopefully – the Fracture and Chihiro.

()()()()

He flew forward until it was nearly dark, arriving at the Fracture just as the sun went down. Hovering in the air before the glowing line, he focused on the medallion – the chain appeared to have grown to fit him – once again, squeezing his eyes shut as a blinding beam of light shot out from the small piece of metal. The beam entered the fracture and was quickly swallowed, then a roar shook the world as the thin line of light widened and began pulling him in. He resisted for a moment, then flew into the yawning gap in reality as it began to close. He flashed across the dark no-man's land and dove through the other gap as it closed, yanking his tail forward to avoid having it cut off.

Kohaku sank as the Earth's gravity pulled him down, struggling to regain altitude before giving in and coming to a – more or less – controlled landing near the Woman stone. He came to his feet and shook his head, feeling his mane wave in the cool night air. He did a quick once-over, no injuries, apart from a couple of bruises that would fade once he reverted to his normal form. He did so now, pushing off his hands and knees as the majestic creature faded to be replaced by the boy on a mission. Kohaku patted himself down, dusting off his knees before taking a few steps forward. They were difficult, but he soon grew accustomed to the greater gravity – or perhaps it was merely that the magic he used to sustain his flight had been sapped by the Fracture as he'd passed through.

He closed his eyes, searching for the pull of the River Stone he'd given Chihiro. The medallion pulsed against his chest and he felt a replying beat somewhere nearby. He focused, pulling his energies together and doing a quick prayer to . . . someone, that his magic hadn't actually been drained. He rose smoothly from the ground, turning as he rose to point toward the pull of the Stone. He half closed his eyes, viewing the magical overlays of the Earth. Shifting colors suddenly twisted to life along the ground, swirling around bodies as non-magical beings walked within the mist-like energies. He turned until he saw a pulsing light matching the beat of the medallion, and grinned as he realized the nearby sense he'd gotten was accurate.

()()()()

The moon was high in the sky when Kohaku touched down outside the small blue house holding the Stone. The trip to the fracture had taken long enough, sucked a definite portion of his strength, and now he really just wanted to see Chihiro.

He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the crisp night air, with just a touch of a floral scent that would have driven Lin insane with jealousy if she'd been there, knowing that all of her careful cultivation attempts were a snowball in a blizzard compared to Chihiro's garden. He walked carefully forward, sandals making almost no noise on the deck as he made his way for the door.

He placed a hand on the handle and pulled sharply, then shot back into the air as a shrill wail cut through the silence. He stuffed his fingers into his ears as lights went on all around the neighborhood, rising higher into the air to distance himself from the shrieking noise. A trio of forms clustered around the door he'd tried to get in, the biggest one yanking it open and racing into the yard as the tall woman that must have been Chihiro's mother moved back into the house. A moment later, Kohaku lowered his hands as the shriek – which must have been an alarm as he now realized – was cut short.

He sighed and sat cross-legged in the air, "Well, so much for the romantic moonlit reunion." He stroked his chin as he thought hard, "What to do, what to do, what to . . . hmm. I should get out of here before those people down there notice me, it's probably the neighbors wondering what the problem is." The information sank in as Kohaku realized the importance and possible value of a crowd. He flew down into the trees and emerged onto the road, sliding around the edge to help avoid someone noticing him. Then he almost slapped himself in the face, oh Kohaku you idiot. One of the last spells Yubaba taught you was a glamour casting. Why aren't you already invisible to the eye? He took a deep breath and moved his hands in an intricate pattern, keeping them low to keep from drawing attention. He finished the casting and took a step backward to trigger the spell, blinking out of sight of any mortal who may have otherwise spotted and reported a stranger lurking about at the same time as a burglary nearly occurred.

Kohaku moved to the front of the crowd and looked up at the figures on the doorstep as the chubby male continued speaking, "Everything's all right, you can go home now. Go on, nothing else to see here. Nothing was stolen, the intruder didn't even get in."

"Nothing would have been stolen anyway, except maybe your daughter's heart." Kohaku muttered, "Well, at least I hope. Little late for doubts Kohaku." He took a few steps forward on the walkway, being careful not to step on the carefully trimmed lawn and leave evidence of his being there. He took a careful look at the woman next to the speaker, tall, dark hair, it certainly looked like Chihiro's mother, from the little he'd seen of the woman in the no-man's land.

As for the third person . . .

Kohaku's eyes went wide and he nearly lost his grip on the spell. Chihiro was peering out from around her father. She was older and her hair had grown out some, but it was definitely her. Kohaku smiled to himself and walked forward some more, coming right up right next to the door. As the crowd behind him dispersed and the three walked back into the house, Kohaku decided to chance it.

"Chihiro." He hissed softly, "Chihiro, it's me. Kohaku."

Chihiro instantly turned around and her eyes scanned the yard. She turned back to the house as her mother's voice rang, "Chihiro, aren't you coming back in?"

Chihiro hesitated, "Yes mom. Um, is it okay if I stay out on the back porch for a little while though? I don't think I can get back to sleep."

Kohaku could hear a murmured argument, then her mother's voice called out again, "Alright, but at least grab a blanket from your room. And make sure to deactivate the alarm before you open the door, I don't want the neighbors to be disturbed again."

"Okay mom." Chihiro turned back to the yard for a moment, and then ran back inside. Kohaku rose back into the air and floated gently over the house, letting his glamour fade a bit once he couldn't see the street. He avoided the windows as he descended into the backyard for the second time that night, reassuming the glamour when he saw the father pouring himself a glass of water. The man drank it and went back up the stairs, dodging around his daughter as Chihiro rushed back down clutching a blanket. She paused in front of the door, then ran into the hall to poke at a small box on the wall before running back to the door. Chihiro emerged holding a heavy blanket, the fog coming from her breath making Kohaku suddenly realize how cold it was.

"Kohaku? Kohaku, are you there?" Chihiro's voice was low as she pulled the blanket around herself.

She jumped as Kohaku released his glamour and pulled her into a hug from behind, "I missed you." He muttered into her ear.

Chihiro turned in his arms and let her head fall against his shoulder, "I really hope this isn't a dream. I really, really hope it's not."

Kohaku pushed her back a bit and looked her up and down, "You've grown a bit."

Chihiro laughed, then covered her mouth with both hands, accidentally dropping the blanket. She adopted a mock glare as she let her hands down, "I've grown a bit? I've grown a bit!? Five years without a peep from you and the only thing you can think to say is I've grown a bit?"

Kohaku laughed softly, "I also said I missed you. Does that not count?" He pulled her back into a hug, smiling into her shoulder as her arms wrapped around him, carrying the blanket with them.

Her voice was muffled by his shoulder, "Oh gods I've missed you Kohaku. How are you even here? I thought you couldn't go past those steps?"

Kohaku hugged her a bit tighter, "Fracture in the boundary. Don't know – or really care – how it got there. Zeniba gave me a little amulet that would help me get through, and well, here I am."

Chihiro turned her face to his, "So how long are you here for? A day, a week, a month . . . a year?" Her voice was hopeful on the last word, "Forever?"

Kohaku smiled, "As long as you want me here, I'm here. Lin's taken over the Kohaku River, and the Bath House. I can stay for as long as I live." Chihiro fell through his suddenly transparent form, and he lifted a hand to inspect it in the moonlight, "Which might not be very long unless I get something to eat. Preferably nothing that would turn me into a pig."

Chihiro laughed and ran back inside, returning a moment later with a small berry in her hand. He rolled his eyes but opened his mouth obediently as she held it up, then gagged when she stuffed a chunk of bread in his mouth instead. He chewed and swallowed quickly, then coughed and put on an injured look, "That wasn't very nice."

Chihiro shrugged, "Neither was your waking the neighborhood." She tossed the berry up and let her head fall back, catching it in her mouth before looking back at him with a grin, "Now we're even."

Kohaku grinned as well and pulled her back to him, the world could have frozen and he probably wouldn't have noticed.

As far as he was concerned, the world was in his arms.


End file.
